Joint Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine
The Joint Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine is the body in Ireland responsible for higher professional training in Intensive Care Medicine. It is a Joint Faculty, in that it has representation from all the post-graduate training bodies – the College of Anaesthesiology of Ireland, the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, and the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland, as well as representation from the Intensive Care Society of Ireland. For more information on the Faculty please go to jficmi.anaesthesia.ie.
Faculty Activities
The Joint Faculty, on behalf of the College, supports Specialist Anaesthesiology Trainees to develop their practice of Intensive Care Medicine during their training programme. The College has set down certain minimum standards regarding duration and structure of training in Intensive Care Medicine. All trainees should complete six months of structured, supervised training in intensive care medicine. This should be modular in format comprising modules of at least 2-month duration in an ICU accredited for training by the JFICMI.
The college introduced the new CAI Post SAT – CSCST Fellowship Posts (SAT 7) in July 2021.
A CAI Post SAT – CSCST Fellowship post is undertaken as a 7th year of training. It is optional and will be allocated on the basis of competition. The posts are open only to trainees who have successfully completed their 6 years training on the Specialist Anaesthesiology Training Programme (‘the Programme’).
Places are limited to 15 per year and are currently available in Intensive Care Medicine among other sub-specialties.
The posts are approved by the College and will provide a structured certifiable experience immediately following CSCST, designed to deliver the requirements of a particular sub-specialty beyond that obtained during the 6 year Programme.
To be eligible for a SAT 7 Fellowship post, a trainee must have satisfactorily completed the SAT Programme and have been confirmed as suitable for award of CSCST by the Directors of Training, within six months of taking up the post, i.e. have completed their training in the January or July of the year the post is available. The appointment process will be as follows:
- The Training Department will write to eligible trainees during their SAT 6 year and invite expressions of interest;
- Appointments will be made by the Directors of Training on behalf of the Training and Education Committee of the College;
- Where more expressions than available posts are received, a competitive interview process will be held, managed by the Training Department and involving the relevant hospital;
- Supervision and assessment will be carried out jointly by the Training Department and the Hospital;
- Trainees will remain on the Trainee Specialist Register for the duration of the Fellowship;
- On successful completion of the year the trainee will be awarded a CAI Certificate of Fellowship confirming one year’s additional training in the relevant sub-specialty or one year’s additional training in the dual specialty where appropriate.
Applications are now closed for posts commencing July 2024. Applications for the training programme commencing July 2025 will open in August/September 2024.
Applying for a Training Position
For entry into clinical fellow or advanced clinical fellow training, doctors must be registered with the Joint Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine of Ireland.
Year 1 and year 2 ICM training posts are filled each year following a central applications process under the auspices of the JFICMI. This involves a national advertisement programme, competitive interviews and post allocation process. The number of available positions varies on a yearly basis. While there is usually only a once-yearly application and interview period (from September to November), during some years additional training posts are advertised in the January-February period.
Advanced Clinical Fellowship (Year 2 ICM Training) applicants must:
- Have achieved CSCST or entry onto the Medical Council Specialist Register in base specialty by the time of interview
- Have completed one year of JFICMI accredited intensive care medicine training and attempted the FJFICMI examination.
Clinical Fellowship (Year One) in Intensive Care Medicine applicants must:
- Have completed CSCST in base specialty, or
- Be eligible for a recognised year out of programme from base specialty (RCPI/RCSI/EM).
Shortlisted applicants will be asked to provide a reference letter from most recent head of department
For further details about training pathways and applications, please contact the Joint Faculty at jficmi@coa.ie or the Chair of the Training Committee. Please note that most training schemes will require up to one year of notice to accommodate a year out of programme for a trainee.
See also information re Higher Specialist Training in Intensive Care Medicine here
Notes:
The Intensive Care Medicine Training programme is a national training programme. Applicants completing the two year specialist intensive care medicine training programme will spend a minimum of six months outside the Dublin region. The full list of JFICMI training hospitals can be found here.
The Post CSCST programme is a hospital based Fellowship programme where successful candidates are allocated to Joint Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine Accredited Hospitals for either 2 x 6 month rotations or 1 x 12 month rotation. Candidates seeking a second year of ICM specialist training towards the award of a CSCST will need to re apply. The Intensive Care Medicine Specialist Training Programme is not a run through training programme.
The programme facilitates doctors wishing to become either
- Consultant Intensivist OR
- Consultant with a sub-specialty interest in Intensive Care Medicine
For Anaesthesiology Trainees:
- Step 1 Consultant with a Special Interest You will need 12 months modular training or one year dedicated Fellowship training and the award of a CSCST in base speciality training (or entry onto the specialist register)
- Step 2 Consultant Intensivist You will need two years dedicated Intensive Care Medicine Specialist Training, Success at the FJFICMI Fellowship examination, attendance at the JFICMI mandatory courses and award of both CSCST in anaesthesiology and CSCST in Intensive Care Medicine or entry onto both specialist registers.
During the course of Fellowship training, candidates are subjected to a Start of Rotation Meeting, Mid Rotation meeting and End of Rotation Assessment each six months.
ICM Trainees are required to attend the following mandatory courses:
- BASIC Course
- Irish Donor Awareness Programme
- Advanced Simulation in Critical Care
- Difficult Airway Workshop
- Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support
The following hospitals are recognised for training in intensive care medicine:
- Beaumont Hospital, Dublin*
- Cork University Hospital*
- University Hospital Galway*
- University Hospital Limerick
- Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Dublin*
- CHI Crumlin* (maximum of 6 months during 24 months training)
- St James’s Hospital, Dublin*
- St Vincent’s University Hospital, Dublin*
- Tallaght University Hospital, Dublin
- Children’s Health Ireland at Temple Street (2 month modular training)
*Hospitals recognised for both Year 1 and Year 2 training.
Training is structured to maximise opportunities for learning and to provide a broad range of experience in different types of hospitals. Details of the core curriculum and expected competencies are presented in the Joint Faculty’s Higher specialist training in Intensive Care Medicine document.
The primary route for becoming a Fellow of the Joint Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine of Ireland is by completing the prescribed period of training and achieving success at the JFICMI’s Fellowship examination. A second (less common) means of achieving Fellowship is by admission as an Ad Eundum Fellow – the individual doctor having been assessed and approved by the Faculty’s Credentials Committee as the holder of JFICMI-equivalent training and examination. Honorary Fellowship is the only other category of Fellow. Regulations pertaining to Fellowship can be read in sections 6 and 7 of the Faculty’s Memorandum and Articles of Association.
The Board of the Joint Faculty of the Intensive Care Medicine 2022 is constituted as follows:
| Dr Enda O’Connor | Elected Member | Dean |
| Dr Jennifer Hastings | Elected Member | Vice Dean & Chair of JFICMI Training Committee |
| Prof Ger Curley | Elected Member | Chair of Education |
| Dr Margaret Doherty | Elected Member | Ordinary Board Member |
| Dr Catherine Nix | Elected Member | Hon Secretary |
| Dr Peter Moran | Elected Member | Hon Treasurer |
Since 2009, the Faculty has taken over the role of the Irish Board of Intensive Care Medicine and its Memorandum and Articles of Association. Its purpose is primarily to facilitate the training, examination and related accreditation activities for Intensive Care doctors and their institutions in Ireland.
The Joint Faculty supervises ICM Training and accredits Trainees and Training Institutions. The beginning of Intensive Care in medicine is attributed to introduction of novel successful (ventilatory) treatment of Poliomyelitis-related respiratory failure by Ibsen et al in Scandinavia in the early 1950’s. The first ICUs in Ireland were in 1959 and ’61 at Dublin and Belfast and many ICUs then developed.
For more information contact: jficmi@coa.ie